![]() ![]() The k-factor allows you to calculate the bend allowance, the outside setback, the bend deduction, and the flat layout of the precision part you’re forming. Once developed, the value of the k-factor will enable you to predict the total amount of elongation that will occur within a given bend. It’s a mathematical multiplier that allows you to locate the repositioned neutral axis of the bend after forming. It’s the base value needed to calculate bend allowances and ultimately the bend deduction. Of all the mathematical constants used in precision sheet metal fabrication, the k-factor stands out as one of the most important. One thing led to another, and I eventually found that to give a complete answer, my journey would take me not only to k-factor calculations, but the y-factor, minimum radii, kinetic friction, and grain directions-all key ingredients that make the sweet, subtle, complicated gumbo that is the science of bending. Where do these k-factor values come from, and how do you calculate them without a chart? The reader thanked me for the response, but then said he wanted to know more. I explained how the k-factor was used and referred him back to the usual k-factor charts. ![]() A reader wrote me asking me about the k-factor and calculating bend allowances. This is the first part of a two-part series. Describing that shift is what the k-factor is all about. The thinning sheet forces the neutral axis to shift inward toward the inside bend radius. ![]()
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